As everyone knows I have been packing and sorting and throwing things away. One thing I’ve had to tackle is the garage. Our garage is nothing but storage. We moved in over four years ago and basically everything not needed right then went into the garage…. and stayed there. Some of those boxes were boxes that hadn’t been opened from when we moved from Richmond to Hopewell. I shuddered thinking about moving whatever might be nested in those taped up cardboard boxes.
So the goal is to open every single one of them before they get moved. Hubby and the boy brought in a batch this afternoon and soon after dinner I sat down to sort through some of the more mangled looking ones. Surprisingly, and thankfully, every one I’ve opened has been free of any sort of nesting thingies.
The first box had neatly folded and plastic wrapped quilts. They certainly aren’t getting trashed. Into another box to await more of their kind. I know I have more quilts stored. Grandmother Eldridge left a lot of them and then we then had to divide the ones Dad had.
Under the quilts though was an interesting find. Dad’s diploma from high school and junior high. Do I keep those? I cannot decide on that as of yet so they went into a box labeled memories. Along with them though I found cards. Christmas and Father’s Day cards from all three of us girls and also from Aunt Stella, Aunt Dorothy, and one or two from Grandmother Eldridge. It was interesting to see that he kept them as none of them had very personal messages handwritten and strangely there were no birthday cards at all. The cards were easy to decide on not keeping. Under those though were a couple of envelopes full of photos, definitely keepers. One of the real treasures that I plan on scanning soon is a type written paper dated in the 1940s about the Kirk family. There were also quite a few hand written letters in that stack that are all keepers.
I thought I was going to get distracted so I stored them all in the memories box and continued on. I found old marbles and lighters (not the plastic throw away ones but ones that he used to work on to get to work again… antiques). The next couple of boxes held a mishmash of junk that mostly went into the trash. I found some jewelry (keep), an old coffee maker (trash), and wallets with all sorts of cards from days of past (trash).
Then I got to the bottom of a box that made me gasp and tear up and brought the hubby to look. I thought they were long gone and they may not be any good anymore but there they were. All the instant cameras from my wedding and honeymoon. There are a few things of old film and negatives and even my first camera were in there as well. I don’t know if the film can be developed. I don’t even know who would do that type of service anymore. Into the memories box they went. I should probably rename that box as Project One.
So two large boxes and one small box became one small box (with room still in it!) and half of a medium box. I feel accomplished and so happy to have taken the time to actually go through these boxes rather than just dumping them in the trash without looking.
Sweet Dreams Everyone <hugs and love>
“Drudgery is as necessary to call out the treasures of the mind, as harrowing and planting those of the earth.” – Margaret Fuller
So the goal is to open every single one of them before they get moved. Hubby and the boy brought in a batch this afternoon and soon after dinner I sat down to sort through some of the more mangled looking ones. Surprisingly, and thankfully, every one I’ve opened has been free of any sort of nesting thingies.
The first box had neatly folded and plastic wrapped quilts. They certainly aren’t getting trashed. Into another box to await more of their kind. I know I have more quilts stored. Grandmother Eldridge left a lot of them and then we then had to divide the ones Dad had.
Under the quilts though was an interesting find. Dad’s diploma from high school and junior high. Do I keep those? I cannot decide on that as of yet so they went into a box labeled memories. Along with them though I found cards. Christmas and Father’s Day cards from all three of us girls and also from Aunt Stella, Aunt Dorothy, and one or two from Grandmother Eldridge. It was interesting to see that he kept them as none of them had very personal messages handwritten and strangely there were no birthday cards at all. The cards were easy to decide on not keeping. Under those though were a couple of envelopes full of photos, definitely keepers. One of the real treasures that I plan on scanning soon is a type written paper dated in the 1940s about the Kirk family. There were also quite a few hand written letters in that stack that are all keepers.
I thought I was going to get distracted so I stored them all in the memories box and continued on. I found old marbles and lighters (not the plastic throw away ones but ones that he used to work on to get to work again… antiques). The next couple of boxes held a mishmash of junk that mostly went into the trash. I found some jewelry (keep), an old coffee maker (trash), and wallets with all sorts of cards from days of past (trash).
Then I got to the bottom of a box that made me gasp and tear up and brought the hubby to look. I thought they were long gone and they may not be any good anymore but there they were. All the instant cameras from my wedding and honeymoon. There are a few things of old film and negatives and even my first camera were in there as well. I don’t know if the film can be developed. I don’t even know who would do that type of service anymore. Into the memories box they went. I should probably rename that box as Project One.
So two large boxes and one small box became one small box (with room still in it!) and half of a medium box. I feel accomplished and so happy to have taken the time to actually go through these boxes rather than just dumping them in the trash without looking.
Sweet Dreams Everyone <hugs and love>
“Drudgery is as necessary to call out the treasures of the mind, as harrowing and planting those of the earth.” – Margaret Fuller
